Loyal flush?

My 40k mile Vauxhall Meriva has just been serviced by the main dealer who, without asking, added some substance to the petrol and engine oil and called it an ‘Emissions Service’ then stuck £20 on my bill. They claim it will remove sludge from the cylinder head and camshaft. Since anyone who looked in the filler cap could see that the engine top end was perfectly clean and I always fill up with a superior grade of petrol do you think they tried to con me? I worry about the lubrication properties of the engine oil being compromised by the addition of this cleaner?

Asked on 25 July 2009 by

Answered by Honest John

These will be two separate additives. One is an oil flush added to the old oil to flush more of it and old hydrocarbon deposits out of the engine than simply draining the old oil would. The other will be a fuel system cleaner added to the petrol to clean hydrocarbon deposits from the fuel system. If the car does a lot of short runs from cold this can be necessary.

Tags: oil flush technical issues owning

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